In radio access networks (RANs), communication stations, such as user equipment (UE), conventionally request grants of uplink bandwidth when uplink packets are ready to send. One issue with this technique is that a UE will have to wait for a new uplink packet to arrive from its application layer before requesting an uplink grant. This results in a delay, which may be an issue particularly for delay-sensitive and real-time applications. With the proliferation of portable internet devices such as smartphones, tablets and notebook devices, packets of various applications are delivered over-the-top (OTT) using a default bearer. These applications are transparent to the EPC making it difficult to support quality-of-service (QoS) level requirements for these applications, particularly for delay-sensitive applications.
Thus, what is needed are UEs and methods that help reduce or eliminate delays in RANs, including delays associated with requesting uplink bandwidth grants. Also needed are UEs and methods that reduce or eliminate delays suitable for use with delay-sensitive and real-time applications. There are general needs for systems and methods that provide improved QoS support for applications and particularly for delay-sensitive applications that are transparent in the EPC.